


Phoenix Fire

by Whenpigsfly84



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whenpigsfly84/pseuds/Whenpigsfly84
Summary: While investigating a series of pureblood attacks, Harry Potter is once again fated to deal with Draco Malfoy. He's as arrogant as ever, and Harry tries to remember how hard he fought to keep Draco out of Azkaban years earlier, so he could have a second chance. Second chances aren't always what they seem, and Harry is struggling to pick up the pieces of his life that have once again fallen apart when he learns that Draco may be losing his chance as well. As the savior of the wizarding world, Harry is compelled to try saving Draco as well, even if the stubborn git fights him every step of the way.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is complete work of fiction, I do not own anything concerning Harry Potter. This work is only proofread by myself and spelling and grammar checked by Grammarly. If you happen to notice any mistakes please let me know and I would be happy to fix them. Thank you so much for reading this, and feel free to leave me a note on what you think!

The front of the large manor was still as imposing as Harry Potter remembered from years previous when Death Eaters had dragged his friends and him here to face Voldemort. However, dinner-plate-sized scorch marks now marred the large entryway steps that led to a set of double doors that stood wide open as Aurours came and went. The men and women nodded briefly to him in passing but swiftly continued on with their work. Harry entered Malfoy Manor and quickly followed the sound of voices coming from further within. The open foyer led to a vastly oversized dining room with a fireplace that dominated the far wall and a long table that could seat twelve. 

A pale-skinned, blonde-haired man paced irritably between the table and roaring fireplace, his hands scrubbing at his face before whirling towards a female Aurour with a loud and curt reply.

"It's alright Miss Witherstrom, I can take the rest of Mr. Malfoy's statement," Harry interrupted, striding purposefully towards the young woman with a smile.

Nadine Witherstrom had only been an Aurour for less than five years now and was working her way into the intelligence field very rapidly. She'd only seen Head Auror Harry Potter twice in her entire career so far; including today, but she knew him intimately by his many accolades, newspaper articles, and word of mouth. So seeing him take lead on a case involving his old long-term school rival Draco Malfoy was curious enough to have her reluctant to be dismissed.

"Thank you very much for taking Mr. Malfoy's statement so quickly. I have a few questions of my own for him so if you could transcribe your notes and send them to my office I'll make sure they get looked over and properly filed," Harry added, as the young woman lingered by the table, glancing between the two men.

The Head Aurour's smile dropped as he turned to face Mr. Malfoy just as the other man's lip curled up into a sneer. Nadine slowly and quietly backed out of the room, clutching her notebook to her chest. She was not a stupid woman, she had top marks all through school to prove it and in this instance knew without a shadow of a doubt that pushing to stay and continue interviewing Mr. Malfoy was not a good nor smart idea.

"Well, well, well, the Head Auror coming down from on high to sully his hands in such a mundane task as interviewing me. What's the special occasion Potter? Your secretary was handling things surprisingly well," Draco Malfoy said, his familiar sneer across his lips and derision in his voice.

Harry took a deep breath and slowly let it out, resisting Malfoy's usual catty banter. "I'm afraid the attack on your house this morning was the fifth of its kind over the last several months. Every attack has been on a pureblood family that had sided with Voldemort during the uprising. So far you're the only one to have survived Malfoy."

Draco bit back his response in surprise, eyeing Harry as he stood, hands braced on his dining room table looking much more haggard in the flickering firelight then he did moments ago when he'd entered the room.

"Where were you when the attack started?" Harry asked when Malfoy remained quiet.

"I was downstairs in the basement, prepping some potions for delivery this afternoon to Hogwarts. Which I'm going to have to re-brew now," Draco replied with a sigh.

"You're making potions for Hogwarts? I thought the Ministry had forbidden you from practicing magic?" Harry asked in confusion.

Draco rolled his eyes. "What would you know about potion making Potter? Snape would have failed you except for Granger's help. I don't need a wand or magic to stir a cauldron, and selling potions is the only job I could get seeing as nobody wants to hire the son of a convicted Death Eater."

Harry lowered his eyes in embarrassment at the mild scolding, realizing he was leaping yo judgments with Mafly once again, only to be proved wrong. He'd tried to make amends after Voldemort's defeat by speaking at Lucius', Narcissus' and Draco's trials. Explaining how he'd witnessed first hand the Dark Lord's manipulation and threats of the entire Malfoy family. As The Saviour Of The Wizarding World, Harry's plea for the Wizengamot's leniency went a long way. Because of his use of unforgivable curses Lucious' life sentence in Azkaban was reduced to 50 years, Narcissus was only sentenced to 10 years as an accomplice after Harry testified that she'd tried to save his life and although Draco lost his wand and was forbidden to ever use magic for the rest of his life, he was spared from spending any time in prison.

"Did you see any of the attackers, recognize any of them?" Harry asked.

"No, I didn't even know anyone was outside until I heard loud bangs and then I secured the door to my workshop until they stopped," Draco replied.

"Did you hear anyone enter your house?" Harry asked.

"No, there are several layers of protective magic surrounding the entire manor, placed by generations of Malfoy's. That's why Voldemort chose our home to use as his hideout, no simple witch or wizard would ever be able to get through the wards," Draco explained.

"That's probably what saved you then, you're very lucky Malfoy. The other families had moved since the wars, there were no protections on their homes more complex than a heavy-duty locking spell on their doors. They were caught completely unprepared because they weren't attacked with magic," Harry replied.

Draco's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Then what exactly did they try to blow my house apart with that managed to kill four other pureblood wizarding families? They weren't exactly helpless and I'm sure they put up a fight."

"I haven't been able to tell exactly what they used yet, except it's a muggle designed device. The first attack took out the entire front of a small cottage house on the outskirts of town. The roof collapsed, trapping the family in the kitchen and living room and the rest of it caught fire and burned. I was able to locate the remains of the explosive they used, small bits of wire, melted plastic that I believe was triggered by a mobile phone. There wasn't a single trace of magic anywhere near the house and the neighbors were so far away they didn't even know anything was wrong until they saw smoke in the sky," Harry said.

"Muggles are definitely skilled in killing each other in the most heinous ways possible but why would they come after the Dark Lord's supporters? Most of the families who were involved are either in prison or in hiding. How do they even know about us?" Draco asked.

"I don't know that they are muggles, probably some group of witched and wizards who are hiding their magic so we can't trace it back to them," Harry replied.

"Leave it to the Ministry to be as incompetent as ever, four families are dead and you know nothing. Since their attack didn't go as planned should I be on the lookout for a return visit?" Draco scoffed.

Harry chose to ignore the criticism since it was sadly a sentiment he shared. "They haven't failed before, and each attack was more carefully planned than the previous ones. I'm sure they came here with enough explosives to take the entire manor down, they just didn't know about the wards. The only way to get to you and your family is to break the magic or catch you outside your home. If they're really trying not to use magic that might be traced then they probably won't try cracking the wards, especially since that'll take a lot of time and they're usually in and out in under 20 minutes. So that may mean that they'll wait until you go into town, leave the protection of the manor."

"Or they may very well move on and leave me alone. But even after five attacks you still know squat about them or what they'll do. Does that mean you're going to leave me and my family here then, hoping that they won't come back and try again?" Draco asked indignantly.

"I didn't say that Malfoy. You and your family's safety is my priority right now. For the time being, staying here in the manor would be the best idea. I and several other Aurors are going to place more wards around the perimeter to monitor anyone who might try to apparate onto the grounds and we'll be alerted the moment anyone uses anything but the most basic magic that isn't your wife or son," Harry answered patiently.

"Astoria and Scorpius are on holiday with her parents in Europe for the next several weeks before the start of the school year. As for me, I have a very extensive list of potions that have been requested by teachers at Hogwarts, medi-witches, and wizards at St. Mungo's and several well-paying family friends that will keep me quite busy," Draco said.

Harry looked thoughtfully concerned for a moment. "How many people know your wife and son were gone Malfoy?"

"Since I don't get out and socialize much anymore, nobody except Astoria's parents," Draco answered.

"Your wife or son wouldn't have told anyone?" Harry asked.

Draco set Harry with a very blank look as if explaining something exceedingly simple to a toddler. "By association with the son of Lucius Malfoy, Astoria, unfortunately, doesn't have many friends and Scorpius' only friend is your son. Astoria didn't know anything about the trip until the morning I sent for her parents, who would very much like to forget I exist; and say what you will about Slytherins but no Potter alive or dead would betray someone's family like this."

"I apologize Malfoy, I didn't mean to insult your wife or son. I just wondered if they may have mentioned the trip out in public where someone could have overheard," Harry explained.

"Once Astoria's parents apparated here I told them of my plans to send them all on holiday and except for some winery where Astoria's father had met her mother in Italy, there was no definitive itinerary. Scorpius has managed to send me two owls so far with brief descriptions of their trip, but the last one arrived over a week ago and I have no idea if they're still there or not," Draco replied,'

Harry nodded, perhaps under the circumstances it was best for Malfoy's family to be out of the country. "I'm going to post an Aurour here to keep an eye on things to make sure you're not attacked again. If you need to go out for any reason please inform them so they can escort you."

Malfoy resisted sneering in contempt, knowing Harry was only doing his job and had it been anyone else they may have refused to help him at all. "I don't need a babysitter Potter, the manor's wards were quite sufficient and I won't need any errands run for some time yet. Though if you'd like to accompany me whilst I make my deliveries I'll send you an owl when I'm ready."

Harry rolled his eyes at Malfoy's teasing, clearly, the attack hadn't fazed the man too badly. After checking with all the other Aurors that the entire manor had been cleared and the scorch marks cleaned, Harry set about covering the entire perimeter with several of his own wards before he left.


	2. Chapter 2

The entire day had seemed surreal to Harry and for a moment he was looking forward to sitting down for dinner while telling Ginny all about it. That is until he opened the door of his very quiet and very empty flat. Harry hadn't actually spoken to Ginny in eight months since they had decided that between her demanding Quiddich career and his chaotic job as Head Auror they would be better off living alone; without the expectations of their marriage getting in the way. Their children had taken it hard but conceded that if their parents weren't happy together then at least they wouldn't be fighting while apart. Ron had been surprisingly supportive when Harry had broken the news to him, simply saying it was better that they take a break now while they were still friends then drag it out until they were enemies with broken hearts. Hermione had understood as well, reminding Harry about how Ron and she had been in a similar situation early into their marriage. 

Harry remembered those first few years with a wry chuckle. He and Ron had been nearly living at the ministry while starting as Aurors and Hermione had been bouncing around between several jobs, trying to figure out which one she liked best. It was two years into being an Auror when Ron had shambled into their shared office looking exhausted and grim. He'd sadly announced he couldn't do it anymore, that he'd been fooling himself this whole time and there was no way he was cut out for this line of work. He continued explaining how Hermione and he had gotten into several terrible rows these past few weeks over it all and she was threatening to end their courtship. Harry who'd barely managed four hours of solid sleep the night before stared blankly at him in shock. Ron had then broken down, tears flowing unchecked as he'd begged Harry not to be mad or disappointed with him. Of course, Harry hadn't been either of those things, more concerned that Ron was so distraught he looked ill as his best friend crumpled into a chair hiccuping and stammering his explanation. Ron had never really told Harry how much his support then had meant to him and how relieved he'd been when Harry had solemnly promised that he'd help him save his relationship with Hermione no matter what.

Having no other interest at the time and no previous work history it was wonderful when Fred had offered Ron a job at the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes Joke Shop. It seemed like the perfect job to everyone, Hermione got to drop in and visit Ron whenever she had a chance and they were able to enjoy dinner together nearly evening while Molly Weasley didn't need to fret every time Ron's clock hand stuck itself in the 'Mortal Peril' position for hours on end. With Ron's decision to simplify his career in order to focus more on his growing relationship with Hermione, she also paired down her schedule, making sure she had corresponding days off with Ron.

Harry was glad for his friends, he enjoyed seeing them so happy. He'd eagerly anticipated being that happy with Ginny when they'd finally decided to make their on-again, off-again relationship permanent with a proposal of marriage. And it was everything he could have hoped for when they actually managed to get their own schedules to mesh. At first Harry had scheduled days off and Ginny had quite a bit of time between training sessions before she was recruited to a semi-professional Quiddich team. Then both began rising through their respective ranks in a rush. Looking back Harry was stunned at how fast it all went, one day they were getting married, then Ginny was coming home to tell him she'd been scouted by the Holyhead Harpies, next he was getting a promotion and they moved out of their tiny one-bedroom flat and that following winter they found out Ginny was pregnant. The next decade continued on in a very similar vein, one major event after another, promotion here, winning the Quiddich Cup there, baby number two and three somewhere in all of that.

Harry could barely pull all the events out separately, so tangled up in a million smaller things as they were. Dates blurred together until suddenly they were celebrating Albus' tenth birthday and Harry couldn't even remember him turning nine. He'd so desperately wanted a family, and yet as he sat listening to the four people closest to him sing Happy Birthday, Harry felt like he didn't even know them. Unfortunately, as Albus started school at Hogwarts things only got worse, Ginny was gone for weeks at a time for training and games, and no amount of trying to reconnect with either his wife or children seemed to work.

Ginny cast him strange looks as he became quite flustered while trying to engage the children while they were home for the holidays. Caught off guard by their father's sudden invasive interest in every aspect of their personal lives, the children became quiet and suspicious. They were quick to shift focus on each other, oftentimes revealing embarrassing truths about whoever was the closest target. It caused tensions between all of them to skyrocket, several shouting matching breaking out because of it.

Harry deeply regretted how quickly it went downhill from there, but he just didn't seem to know how to get out of the giant hole he'd dug for himself at the time. The only resolution Ginny had been able to come to was for Harry to follow in her brother's footsteps and quit being an Auror. Considering he'd already dedicated the better part of his adult life to his career and was up for a position as Head Auror, Harry had steadfastly refused. Without being able to come to an agreement, they'd both sought separate council in respective family and friends. Ginny had asked her mum how she handled having her husband working for the ministry so much and Harry had gone to Ron and Hermione for guidance. The three had sympathized with the couple, but none had come up with a foolproof way to juggle both time-consuming careers and home lives. Mr. Weasley made it a point to eat breakfast and dinner with his family nearly every day and Ron had given up his dream of becoming an Auror in order to be more available for his family.

Being Head Auror however, meant Harry was often in his office before dawn and still there long after dinner had gone cold. He tried to make a point of taking Sundays off but one thing or another inevitably came up and he found himself buried under a mountain of paperwork instead. The final straw was after coming home from a particularly grueling three-day mission to find Ginny packing up her Quiddich gear. Harry had completely lost track of the dates, Ginny was about to go on a six week training holiday which precluded the start of her Quiddich season. Realizing he'd nearly missed saying good-bye, he wasn't going to see her for close to two months and couldn't remember the last game he'd seen her play in was a very clear slap in the face. Somewhere along the line, they'd drifted so far apart they'd become strangers. Harry felt like he didn't belong there anymore and Ginny deserved someone who did.

It was almost easy to leave the house he'd lived in for the last 15 years and not look back. The hard part was deciding where to go next, although Ron and Hermione would always welcome him. Their house was quite full and although he still owned Grimmauld Place, it was still too creepy for him to stay very long; especially alone. So Harry had stayed in a hotel while looking for a flat nearer to the ministry.

This very same flat was the one he came home to that evening after double-checking the newest set of wards around Malfoy Manor. It was sparsely decorated, as Harry spent very minimal time there. It had a strange combination of both Wizarding and Muggle appliances which always seemed to fascinate Ron whenever he'd stop by. He had a clock very similar to Mrs. Weasley's with hands depicting each of his loved ones and where they currently were. Magical moving pictures in frames were scattered along several surfaces throughout the flat, while the kitchen boasted a dishwasher that was completely muggle and the living room had a television and DVD player. Ginny had always thought his muggle things were strange eccentricities as if he either couldn't let go of his childhood pre-magic or was too lazy to cast a dish cleaning charm after he ate. Harry however felt as though he'd finally found the perfect balance of the two worlds he lived in.


	3. Chapter 3

"So how long do you think before the next attack Harry?" Minister Hermione Granger asked as the two sat comfortably in her office the next morning.

Harry shook his head, "I'm really not sure, so far there has been an attacked roughly every three to four weeks. That may be how long it takes them to build the explosives, or just figure out their next targets."

"And Malfoy so far has been the only survivor, which could mean he's still a target," Hermione mused thoughtfully.

"I've set perimeter wards to alert me if anyone apparates inside the manor's grounds or uses anything more than basic magic. There is also around the clock Auror guards keeping watch," Harry explained.

"There have been six attacks now, let's not spread our resources too thin, we need to be concentrating on who is doing this. I've had non-stop owls coming in from pureblood families demanding to know what we're doing to stop these attacks. There have been a few accusations that because I'm muggle-born I may not be putting the highest priority on this," Hermione replied with a resigned sigh.

"Don't suppose telling them the attacks have all been centered on Voldemort's supporters would get them off your back a bit, eh?" Harry smirked.

"I've had mandatory gag orders placed on every newspaper since the first attack, but word and rumors are still flying faster then I can keep up with. I'm still curious how they're finding all the families who've been in isolation since the wars. We didn't even know where Jugson had gone to, let alone that he and his family were so close. So, the guards can keep an eye out on Malfoy Manor for a few days but after that I want all the Aurors tracking down every possible target, their friends, cousins, or known associates so maybe we can stop this before it happens again," Hermione said.

"Hermione, they've never missed before, and Malfoy's wife and son are on holiday. If we don't protect them there's no knowing if they'll be attacked again," Harry protested.

"And if we have Aurors surrounding the place all the time we may never catch them before they move on again. If it takes them nearly a month to resupply themselves, and they weren't able to get through Malfoy Manor's wards the first time, they'll likely take even more time and come back more heavily armed, perhaps even use magic that we can trace," Hermione explained.

Harry felt his stomach flip over uneasily. "You want to use Malfoy as bait?"

"Harry listen, you said it yourself the manor is nearly as heavily warded as Hogwarts and unless they use magic we have no way of tracking them and they've never failed before. They must be getting overconfident by now, these have been brutal attacks that have killed not only previous supporters of the Dark Lord but innocent women and children. They're not going to let Malfoy ruin their perfect track record," Hermione replied.

"Then remove the restrictions on Malfoy so he can join his family on their holiday and we'll set up a trap without the possibility of any casualties," Harry requested.

"That would take a majority vote of the Wizengamot to reverse, which would take too much time and be too public. Whoever is orchestrating these attacks would find out and track Malfoy and his family down," Hermione said.

"I can't tell Malfoy we're setting him up Hermione, so what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" Harry asked in frustration.

"I don't want you to Harry, I know it seems cruel but I don't see any other options at this point. You need to focus on finding out more about the explosives they used, I have a muggle military contact at the British Embassy who you can talk to. I'm fairly certain whoever is behind this is either muggle-born with family who were military members or a squib who was in the muggle military," Hermione explained.

Harry chose not to argue the point, figuring pushing Hermione right now would only cause more unneeded strain. She'd promised him a few days of protection for Malfoy, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep the extra wards going until the attackers were caught. He'd just have to work even harder following the leads Hermione had for him and finish tracking down all the Voldemort supporters who had escaped imprisonment. It was days like these when he was relieved he wouldn't have Ginny breathing down his neck about never being home.


	4. Ch. 4

"Well it's certain pieces of the main device Mr. Potter, but as it goes with bombs such as these, many smaller, less heat resistant parts can be lost after the explosion and resulting fire. Most people who build bombs practice quite a few times before, to perfect their explosives. They create a signature by doing this, all their explosives will be the same, same parts, same materials, same build because they know that it will work every time. So, if you've had six bombs all built by the same person, the components will all be identical. How they are triggered, via watch timer, mobile phone, pressure switch, will be the same every time. Have you found the same pieces at each attack?" Mr. Denton asked, glancing from the handful of scraps on his desk to Harry who was sitting across from him.

"The first several attacks we didn't know what we were looking for, we may have missed these parts. But you're saying that if it's the same person, these will be there?" Harry asked, motioning towards the pieces on the desk.

"Yes, though as for your question on whether or not they learned how to create bombs in the military I can't be so sure of. These parts are cheap, a plastic kitchen timer, household grade wires, it's all available at your local hardware store. This tells me even if they were in the military they're not using miliary grade components, which would be much easier to trace. Also, not every person who joins the military learns how to make and use explosives like these, that's a very specific branch with a limited number of people. Sadly over the years the knowledge has leaked to the public and flooded the internet, nowadays you can learn how to build a bomb from household materials as easily as you can learn how to unclog a toilet," Mr. Denton replied with a rueful shake of his head.

Harry nodded in understanding, it was far more information than he'd come in with even though it did nothing to whittle down the suspect pool for him. The idea that anyone could learn how to blow up an entire building full of innocent people with just a few keystrokes on a computer made him feel queasy and more paranoid than before.

"One more thing Mr. Potter, bombers take such care and time to perfect their craft that they have to practice beforehand, and usually their targets are abandoned buildings, similar to what they want to blow up. Check out any similar explosions in the general area, if you find the same explosive device you've found your bomber," Mr. Denton added, as Harry moved towards the door after thanking him for his help.

Harry passed on the information to Hermione, leaving how easy it was learning how to make bombs via the internet was, as soon as he returned to the ministry, noting her slight disappointment.

"I've already got Aurors going through all the evidence from every explosion looking for any similar parts and I'm going to start pulling records of any abandoned houses being blown up recently since the end of the wars," Harry assured her.

"Thank you, Harry, I'm sorry my contact wasn't more helpful. Hopefully, now I can keep a lid on the attack on Malfoy Manor. Since Malfoy isn't talking to anyone and the house is still standing nobody is exactly sure what happened and are only guessing that it may have connections to the recent bombings. I can not have reporters camped outside Malfoy's front lawn if we hope to catch these guys," Hermione replied.

Harry just nodded stiffly while promising to keep her updated as the case progressed before apparating just down the street from Malfoy Manor.


End file.
